State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain said on Friday the government was considering a total lockdown for a week from April 14 amid a sharp rise in COVID-19 deaths and cases.
During the period people would have to stay at home, the state minister said while speaking to the reporters at the Bangladesh Secretariat in the afternoon.
“We are placing the country on a strict lockdown from April 14 to April 20. It will be completely a strict lockdown, when people would cooperate with each other, stay at home and won’t go out. Everyone would have to show restrain and control while moving out,” said the state minister.
The state minister informed that during the lockdown all public offices, including court, would remain closed. Only emergency services would remain out of the purview of the lockdown.
“We would prefer everyone to stay at home during the lockdown,” the state minister added.
Bangladesh on Friday reported 7,462 fresh cases of coronavirus in 24 hours, taking the number of infected people to 6,73,594 since March 2020. Of the infected, nearly 50,000 people tested positive in barely one week.
The Directorate General of Health Services also registered 63 deaths in the past 24 hours, logging the death toll at 9,584.
Amid a spike in cases, the government last week imposed a weeklong lockdown, starting on Monday.
The lockdown, which remained largely on paper as the authorities allowed the factories, offices and public transports to operate, would end on April 11.
am/wi
